The YPG said that the fighting was the heaviest in the south and east, and that the IS was bringing in reinforcements from Manbij and ar-Raqqa. The IS also reinforced the fighting in the southwest with tanks.

At least 8 YPG fighters and 16 IS fighters were killed on Saturday.

The IS has been slowly pushed out of its areas in the city in the recent fighting.

Abu Furat, an FSA commander from Raqqa, was killed fighting the IS.

The YPG advanced in the fighting in the south of the city.

At least 43 shells from the IS hit within the city.

17 coalition airstrikes targeted the IS around the city over the last 3 days.

Yesterday Yousef Abdul Wahhab, a commander in Jaish al-Islam, was assassinated by unknown gunmen in the village of al-Reihan in Eastern Ghouta. Hassan Raheeb, a commander in Jaish al-Ummah, was assassinated in Harasta.

Both groups have accused the government of the assasinations, which follow several other recent assasinations of rebel commanders in Eastern Ghouta.

Ali al-Hajji, a media activist in the Yarmouk Refugee Camp in Damascus, was assasinated by an unknown gunman.

The program aims to train around 5,000 rebels, primarily to fight the Islamic State.

Fighters will be subjected to screening that includes a security check in US and foreign intelligence agencies, psychological evaluations, stress tests, information gathered from the home communities of the fighters, and biometrics tests.

Rebel commanders will have additional screening measures.

The plan has not been finalized, but fighters will be kicked out of the program if needed, while the ones who progress through it will gradually gain access to higher levels of training and weaponry.

The program will not be subject to the Leahy laws, which ensures that recipients of security assistance from the US State or Defense Department are not tied to major human rights abuses.

This is because the rebels will not be part of a state-sponsored force.

Vetting will not begin until Congress votes to provide the program with longer-term support.